Potentially lethal transmission failure in Toyota Rav4 in March 2013 I bought a new Toyota Rav4 at acton Toyota, in Massachusetts. On February 21st 2014, I was driving the vehicle in sudbury, Massachusetts on route 20 when suddenly it went completely haywire. The engine stalled out " restarted ? stalled out again " restarted. This was all while the vehicle was moving. I drove into the local citizens bank car park, where I parked head in to a very large snow drift. I then discovered that all the gears were gone except for 'd'! oi cycled several times through closing the car down and restarting it - no change. Oi could not push the car backwards away from the snow drift on my own. Oeventually I was towed to the dealership. Oon arrival at acton Toyota, the service director - randy irwin - tested the car and immediately encountered the issue - shifter in reverse - revving the engine - nothing. He tried this with all the different shifter positions other than 'd', always with the same result. He then engaged 'd' and moved the car forward slightly. He then slowly engaged reverse and there was a huge clunk from under the car. And now reverse was engaged! the dealership gave me a loaner vehicle and kept the Rav4. On March 3rd 2014, I phoned irwin - he said a Toyota representative drove it the previous week. There had been no recurrence of the problem - now they were doing a 'visual inspection' (whatever that is!) since nothing came up in diagnostic tests. On March 5th 2014 I phoned irwin again " he said that Toyota had taken the case over. Toyota then called - they said they had not been able to get the issue to recur, and so they requested that I pick up the vehicle at the dealership. This I did. At no point did Toyota ever acknowledge a problem " they always stated simply that they had not been able to get the issue to recur.

- Sudbury, MA, USA

Since brand new at times when stopped then accelerate to turn left or right it will hesitate when I am half way turned causing the vehicle to lose power then it will catch causing a burst in acceleration. At times I have lost power when I need it most. It is very dangerous. I have called my dealers attention to it and was told they cannot duplicate in a test drive so nothing is wrong. It does not do it often 6 or 7 times a week but it seems to be getting worse. This is a huge safety issue.

- Hampstead, NH, USA

Vehicle hesitated when shifting into gear. No power and then a surge causing the car to jerk. Happens when accelerating from stop into first and second gear. The ECM is defective and Toyota was forced to address this after class action suit see rav4ecmsettlement.com, although this resulted in an extended warranty rather than a recall. My car is 4 months passed the 10 year warranty although it has low mileage. The faulty ECM can cause the transmission to fail. This is a dangerous and unfair situation for thousands of owners. Toyota did not notify me of this issue.

- Belmont, MA, USA

I have brand new 2013 Toyota Rav4. While I was driving the vehicle, vehicle suddenly stopped without any kind of indication or warning. The car behind me was about to hit my vehicle. Some how, he could manage to divert the vehicle. After that engine starts, but it was unable to move any further. I had stand in the middle of road, blocking the traffic. Finally I had to tow the vehicle from that place to service center. Luckily it happened in the city limits. If the same thing happens on the highway, I am sure, I might not be living anymore. I checked with Toyota service department, they said it is an axle failure. I am surprised to hear that, how come a brand new car (4 months old) could have mechanical failure without anykind of warning and in the middle of the road suddenly stops. I could not even pull out the car from the road.

- Melbourne, FL, USA

On local road, accelerating from stop. Vehicle suddenly "shut-off" going into neutral and unable to put back into drive. Steering went "limp". vehicle drifted right, power steering was effected, steering difficult. Vehicle coasted into parking lot to the right, fortunately no vehicles happened to be passing on the right at that precise moment, therefore no accidents. But there could have easily been one. Attempts at restarting vehicle resulted in "take ev to nearest dealership" message and several warning indicators on dash. Vehicle was towed to originating dealership which it continues to be diagnosed and unresolved. Vehicle was purchased on 9/3/2013 < 6 days prior.

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

While accelerating from approximately 20 mph, a jerk was felt and a noise was heard as the vehicle was shifting gears. (this vehicle is an automatic.) this same incident occurred again later the same day. However, after the second incident, the "check engine" light and the "traction control" light came on. This occurred on the first day of ownership of the vehicle with only 15 miles on the odometer. This vehicle was brought back to the dealer for a replacement.

- Blackshear, GA, USA

While driving on highway at 55mph, my new 2013 Toyota Rav4 limited suddenly slowed down and would not shift into gear properly when I accelerated. I pulled off the road asap and had vehicle towed to dealership. They have diagnosed transmission failure. There is less than 600 miles on the odometer.

- Lucasville, OH, USA